de la Zerda, A. et al. Ultrahigh sensitivity carbon nanotube agents for photoacoustic molecular imaging in living mice. Nano Lett. 10, 2168–2172 (2010). Christian Wiest, CEO and co-founder of iThera Medical, said, “This funding round is the next major step to translate our MSOT technology from a tool in research to a diagnostic asset in a clinical setting, where we believe it will be a game-changer for millions of patients worldwide.” Ulrich Kruse, Investment Manager of Trumpf Venture, commented, “iThera Medical’s technology is positioned to be the next breakthrough in medical imaging. As a company with deep roots in photonics and medical technology, we are thrilled to support the continued development of MSOT and anticipate an impactful launch into wider medical imaging markets.” All animal experimental procedures were performed in accordance with the protocol #120774 approved by the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC). Xenograft mice models were established by injecting subcutaneously into the right flank of mouse, 0.2 mL of cell suspension containing 5–6 × 10 6 MCF-7, a human metastatic breast cancer cell line or OSCC, a human oral squamous carcinoma cell line and matrigel (BD biosciences) in 1:1 volume ratio. When the tumor volume reached a palpable size, the mouse was used for in vivo PA imaging. In vivo longitudinal monitoring of probe biodistribution in mouse xenograft model iTHERAU Large Infrared Light Therapy Belt is an innovative product that uses advanced technology to distribute 360 LED beads on a 31.49*11.81 inch extra-large treatment pad, each bead inside has three chips, emitting 660nm red light and 850nm infrared light respectively.

Buehler, A., Kacprowicz, M., Taruttis, A. & Ntziachristos, V. Real-time handheld multispectral optoacoustic imaging. Opt. Lett. 38, 1404–1406 (2013).

ZnPc at a dosage of 0.21 mg/kg was injected via a catheter into the tail vein of tumor-bearing mice anaesthetized under isoflurane and the probe biodistribution was monitored over time in various organs using PA imaging. Before image acquisition, a volume ROI consisting of transverse slices with a step size of 0.3 mm spanning from the liver to the lower abdomen was selected by manual inspection of live MSOT images and the 6 laser excitation wavelengths of 680, 700, 750, 800, 850 and 900 nm were selected for correspondence with the major turning points in the absorption spectra of ZnPc, oxy- and deoxy-haemoglobin. Multispectral imaging was then performed with 10 signal averages per wavelength per transverse slice, before injection, during injection and 1, 3, 5 and 24 hr postinjection. Image reconstruction and multispectral processing Taruttis, A., Herzog, E., Razansky, D. & Ntziachristos, V. Real-time imaging of cardiovascular dynamics and circulating gold nanorods with multispectral optoacoustic tomography. Opt. Express. 18, 19592–19602 (2010). O'Connor, A. E., Gallagher, W. M. & Byrne, A. T. Porphyrin and nonporphyrin photosensitizers in oncology: preclinical and clinical advances in photodynamic therapy. Photochem. Photobiol. 85, 1053–1074 (2009).

Wang, L. V. Multiscale photoacoustic microscopy and computed tomography. Nat. Photonics 3, 503–509 (2009). de la Zerda, A. et al. Family of enhanced photoacoustic imaging agents for high-sensitivity and multiplexing studies in mice. ACS Nano. 6, 4694–4701 (2012). de la Zerda, A. et al. Carbon nanotubes as photoacoustic molecular imaging agents in living mice. Nat. Nanotech. 3, 557–562 (2008). iThera Medical has developed Multispectral Optoacoustic Tomography (MSOT), a breakthrough imaging technology that utilizes the photoacoustic effect – describing the conversion of light energy into sound waves – to visualize optical contrast, at high resolution in deep tissue. The most trusted, influential source of new medical knowledge and clinical best practices in the world.

Buehler, A. et al. High resolution tumor targeting in living mice by means of multispectral optoacoustic tomography. EJNIMMI Research. 2 (2012). van Leengoed, H. L. L. M. et al. In vivo fluorescence and photodynamic activity of zinc phthalocyanine administered in liposomes. Br. J. Cancer. 69, 840–845 (1994). Herzog, E. et al. Optical imaging of cancer heterogeneity with multispectral optoacoustic tomography. Radiology. 263, 461–468 (2012).

Abuteen, A. et al. The evaluation of NIR-absorbing porphyrin derivatives as contrast agents in photoacoustic imaging. Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys. (2013). 10.1039/C3CP52193A. The co-investment by the EIC Fund comes as the equity portion of iThera Medical’s successful grant application to the Horizon Europe EIC Accelerator program. This program employs a unique hybrid grant-equity scheme to fund European pioneering innovations. In addition to a €2.5 million grant to support technology development, the European Union will also directly invest in iThera Medical via the EIC Fund. Greish, K. Enhanced permeability and retention (EPR) effect for anticancer nanomedicine drug targeting. Cancer Nanotech. Methods Mol. Biol. 624, 25–37 (2010). Kamat, P. V. et al. Excited-state properties and photosensitization behaviour of bis(2,4-dihydroxyphenyl)squaraine. J. Chem. Soc., Faraday Trans. 89, 2397–2402 (1993). Rosenthal, A., Razansky, D. & Ntziachristos, V. Fast semi-analytical model-based acoustic inversion for quantitative optoacoustic tomography. IEEE Trans. Med. Imag. 29, 1275–1285 (2010).The funding will drive the company’s continued innovation and commercialization of its novel medical imaging technology, with a specific goal to translate the technology into a routine clinical environment and offer clinicians worldwide a powerful new diagnostic tool.